Ken Hemphill, Candidate for SBC President 2018 wrote:He named a decline in Cooperative Program giving, both in dollars and percentages, as one of those concerns and said his focus is “revitalizing our denominational partnerships.”

I guess both can sort of be right. Overall, as part of a trend, the CP is down from its peak. But this year, the giving is running ahead of projections, and a bit ahead of the previous year. It does look like Hemphill is addressing the decline as a campaign issue.

It does appear that some state conventions are moving toward kicking in a bit more each year, though that process seems slow, except among the conservative conventions in Virginia and Texas, that lack the bureaucratic infrastructure which needs support. Most of the state conventions seem to be experiencing an overall downturn in CP giving from churches, which makes that an uphill battle. If "mission support" is a campaign issue, that ought to work in Greaar's favor.

We can both be right. The CP's decline is decades long. I'd describe it now as "flat." The article of mine you linked is just the national part. It is slightly increasing partly because states have stopped keeping over 60% of the offering.

I don't see much that has a chance of persuading churches to increase their CP giving. I see a good bit that would persuade them to give less.